New York, U.S.A. – From a village near Jenin that borders on the 1967 line, OneVoice Palestine youth activists and locals released into Israel hundreds of helium balloons carrying the text of the Arab Peace Initiative on Saturday, April 28 drawing attention toward this historic opportunity.

Hundreds of locals, wearing flag caps of countries supporting the regional peace plan, participated in the activity, which was co-sponsored by Jenin’s governor and the municipality, to mark the document’s tenth anniversary.

They called on all Israelis to pressure their politicians into accepting the initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations to achieve the two-state solution and end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jenin Deputy Governor Ahmad al-Qassam, Minister of Prisoner Affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami, Fatah spokesman Mahmoud Labadi, and other municipal officials also attended the headline-grabbing event.

“We’re urging the Israeli public to demand from their government a real response to the Arab Peace Initiative,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “The document has never been withdrawn or rejected by any Arab state, but despite its apparent resilience, we cannot expect it stay on the table forever.”

Exactly 10 years ago, the 22 Arab League member states came together in Beirut to propose a peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab Peace Initiative offered a comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. It represented an abrupt about-face, from the League’s refusal to engage with Israel to the potential for a new era of regional stability and cooperation. While not an end-point for negotiations, the document sets a positive new starting point.

Unfortunately, Israel never accepted the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for peace discussions. Among Ariel Sharon’s 14 reservations to the 2003 Road Map, reservation #10 explicitly rejected the Arab Peace Initiative. Since then, it has lain dormant.

“Accepting the Arab Peace Initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations is a far better approach than outright rejection wrapped in unsupportable assertions that Israel has done everything it can for peace over the past 64 years and the Palestinians have only been obstructionist,” said OneVoice CEO Howard Sumka.

The event is part of OneVoice Palestine’s campaign, launched in February, demanding the Israeli government to halt its settlement policy and return to negotiations on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative. From tree plantings in Hebron and Bethlehem and distribution of flyers and bumper stickers across the West Bank, to an online campaign with banners on top local news sites – OneVoice Palestine is creating momentum for the peace plan.

Separately, OneVoice Israel is complementing the effort though parallel action, igniting conversations about the Arab Peace Initiative across their eight university chapters, from Haifa to Sderot. Next month, they will mobilize people in the heart of Tel Aviv, bringing prominent public figures to make soap-box speeches while a giant ice cube containing the Arab Peace Initiative text slowly melts away. Working with the growing Two-State Solution Caucus, they will then deliver their message loudly in the Knesset.

OneVoice is an international grassroots movement that aims to amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to demand a two-state solution. The movement educates and trains Israeli and Palestinian youth in leadership skills, non-violent activism, and democratic principles.

Image Courtesy of   Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com

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As talks in Amman, Jordan continue, Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East urges Israel and the Palestinian Authority to summon historic political courage and take the steps that are necessary to return to direct peace talks and the successful negotiation of a final status peace agreement.  On the Israeli side, this would include freezing settlement construction on the West Bank.

“The status quo is not neutral,” according to Rev. Dr. Peter A. Pettit, of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA and Fair Witness Executive Committee member.  “It eats away at the dignity and hope that must ground a peace agreement.  Therefore, we strongly urge Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to refrain from continued settlement building.

We also strongly urge Palestinian President Abbas to engage in direct peace talks without pre-conditions, as the Quartet has proposed, and Israel has agreed.  That is the only way to reach a final status agreement and peace.”

“Both Palestinians and Israelis continue to suffer while their respective leadership appears locked in a ‘lose-lose’ pattern of obstinacy,” lamented Rev. Dr. Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College and Fair Witness Executive Committee member.   Rev. Chilton added that “continued Israeli settlement building creates facts on the ground while peace talks are delayed.

However, the Palestinian refusal to engage in direct negotiations without a settlement freeze is equally unhelpful.  The way to stop settlement building is to create a mutually agreed upon border.  And that cannot happen until the parties sit down and negotiate.”

“As the New Year begins, we bring the message of peace and goodwill to all people,” says Rev. Pettit.  “We pray especially that peace will finally come to the people of Palestine and Israel.”

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